gone into the red zone by summerfield

gone into the red zone

i had to treat my sister and my niece to dimsum for mother's day as my sister wasn't here last week. i was early so i got out of the subway, braved the nasty wind that was blowing and made the day cold despite the temperature of 13 degrees. i must say i felt very out of element standing on the street with my camera and waiting to see if anything interesting happens. then just when i was set on doing a half-half shot of these walls, people started to actually appear on my shot. pity the pair reached the left half so fast -- i had to wait for a car to get the hell out of my frame. if you're a purist half and half person you would say that there is more red so it's not really half and half. but then there is that light standard that cut the photo in exact halves so it is still a true half and half shot.

before this shot, whilst casing the intersection of the danforth and pape avenues, a middle eastern woman, youngish, perhaps early 30's, approached me. she opened her palm and showed me a bunch of gold jewelry, telling me she needs money and she's selling them really cheap. i guess i looked like some dumb so-and-so that could fall for that kind of racket. she said they were genuine 18 carat gold, started to grab my hand to put the jewelry in, but i brushed her off. she was so adamant about me buying them. i told her to go away and leave me alone; that her stuff is not even 18 carat. when she looked like she was going to cry, i told her to go and find someone else to con, and that she can't fool me as laqad eashat fi masqat (i lived in muscat) and i know what 18 carat gold looks like; leave me alone or i will call alshurta (the police) on her. you could see the surprise in her face and then scurried away.

two scenarios came to mind. (1) that woman is part of a syndicate trying to con innocent people, or (2) she probably thieved the jewelry, trying to pass it on to a stranger for some ultimate nefarious reason. then again, she might have been genuinely in need of money, but definitely the gold didn't even remotely look real. but i would bet there would be some person greedy but stupid enough to fall for the con.
Lovely shot and very interesting narrative as usual. I so look forward to reading them ;-)
May 21st, 2019  
Great pops of colour
May 21st, 2019  
Terrific half and half.
May 21st, 2019  
Love this H&H
May 21st, 2019  
great shot - makes a lovely half and half - and we have various groups abusing the Big Issue selling locally. For ages we had a group using the same card to sell them in town, but varying people. Definitely some begging scams going on.
May 21st, 2019  
Well looks like you sorted her out. ( It is just possible she may have been in genuine need but it is unlikely that buying her fake gold would have solved her need.) I like your combination of blocks, horizontal and vertical stripes all in bold colours.
May 21st, 2019  
I enjoy reading your ramblings Vikki. Love the colours in this h&h :)
May 21st, 2019  
I like the "empty" height in this.
May 22nd, 2019  
great colors
May 22nd, 2019  
Great half and half!
May 22nd, 2019  
great photo and greater story
June 3rd, 2019  
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